Families still searching for housing after Jefferson City tornado

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Nearly one year after a tornado ripped through Jefferson City, local groups are still working to find housing for families and people who lost their homes.

River City Habitat for Humanity is currently working to build homes for several families.

"We're working on another home that's a remodel right there on Jackson Street that hopefully will be done next month and that will be a family of four," said Executive Director Susan Cook-Williams. "

The nonprofit is also building four brand new homes.

"With COVID we're having to kind of adjust that and delay it just a little bit," she said.

River City Habitat for Humanity has slowly started opening up construction again with a few staff and key volunteers.

"We're hoping that the community will start to feel safe and come back out and start building with us again because we had planned on doing nine houses this year," Cook-Williams said. "That's a tall order now that we've lost a couple months of building times."

Cook-Williams said people are still struggling to find housing or housing they can afford nearly a year after the tornado.

"We have families that are living either in places that are way too expensive for them and they're having to cut expenses elsewhere that they really can't afford to cut," she said.

"We have a family of four that's living in a one-bedroom 400 square foot apartment because that's all that they could find," she said.

She said people were already experiencing these struggles but the tornado only made it worse.

The Salvation Army has also been working with families who were impacted by the tornado, and has given many a place to live.

"Since the tornado we have been running at full capacity both in Columbia and Jeff City with our shelter up until the COVID pandemic began," said Salvation Army Major Nancy Holloway.

Holloway says there are still people in both shelters that were impacted by the tornado and flooding that followed.

The shelters had to pull a few beds to follow social distancing guidelines as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Holloway said finding housing for lower-income individuals has been especially difficult.

"It's become even more so because there is a number of complexes, neighborhoods that simply aren't being rebuilt," she said.

Both the Salvation Army and River City Habitat for Humanity said anyone can help them provide resources by donating. Holloway said people can also donate cleaning supplies, masks, or other COVID-19 related items to help them continue to provide resources during the pandemic.